


There's A Reason I Never Speak To Them

by nerdyydragon



Series: Kingsman Tumblr Ficlets [60]
Category: Kingsman (2014), Kingsman (2015), Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Family Reunions, M/M, Original Characters - the Harts, double standards, poor Harry just wants to go home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8737744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdyydragon/pseuds/nerdyydragon
Summary: Harry, now stuck mingling with his relatives, is reminded of all of the reasons he never speaks to any of them. Ever. Eggsy, for his part, understands that there's a very valid reason Harry is estranged from his family.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer*  
> The only things I own here are the people you don't recognize.

The Hart estate was all but flooded with relatives that had come from, quite literally, all over the globe for Harry’s cousin’s third wedding, and all of them seemed to be politely ignoring just how much Harry was openly displaying his distaste for the whole affair. He and his elder cousin had always gotten along, generally, but that wasn’t what had him so up in arms about it. It was that Harry knew this match wasn’t one of love - his cousin clearly loved his bride, but she, a woman who was older than his own partner by only a handful of years, was obviously only in it for the rather large sum of money that the man had access to. To add salt in the wound, so to say, it seemed the only person who could see any of this was  _ Harry. _

Harry and Eggsy had spent far too long in the vehicle yesterday, and as a result neither man had slept well, despite the warmth and softness of the bed and privacy they were provided with. By all rights they should have slept like the dead, but perhaps it was the nagging feeling of apprehension for the following four days that had the two of them laying awake in shared silence until the small hours of the morning, when exhaustion had finally bested Eggsy and he tucked himself into Harry’s side, head over his heart, and fell asleep.

“Oh, Harry dear, you look positively horrible!”

Amelia Hart was a lovely woman and Harry loved her dearly, but as he had aged his mother had only succeeded on getting on his nerves. “Did you not sleep well last night?” She had completely ignored Eggsy, who had been tucked in against Harry’s side clutching his coffee as though it might suddenly gain magical powers and transport him from this soon-to-be fiasco. She could have simply been politely allowing him time to wake up, as even showered, shaved, and  well dressed as he was, he looked rather haggard. They both did.

“I’m fine, mother, really. Just a long day yesterday. I’ll be right as rain after breakfast, I promise.” She looked at him sternly, in the way only one’s mother could, but then let the matter drop. Amelia turned to study the man leaning into her son’s protective embrace and tilted her head slightly.

“I’m terribly sorry, that was rather rude of me, to ignore you like that. Who might you be?” Eggsy managed to extract a hand from his vice-grip around his coffee to shake her offered one, and returned her polite smile. “You look rather young, don’t you? If you think for one minute that you can play games with my son’s heart simply because you’re a pretty face who’s caught his fancy, then -” Eggsy’s smile hardened and it took all of his effort to stop from breaking her hand.

“Mother!” Harry’s exclamation was just loud enough to attract the attention of the people around them, so when he continued his his voice had dropped to hardly more than a whisper. “By insulting Gary as such you’re insulting me. I don’t particularly want to be here as it is, so believe me when I say that any further degrading comments about my boyfriend will leave you watching us walk out that door and return to London.” For her part, Amelia looked rather stunned at her son’s vehemence in defence of the young man. She gave them each a stiff nod.

“It was lovely to meet you, Gary.” The two men watched as she walked away, and once she was out of earshot Harry let out a long sigh.

“I think I need a drink.” He spotted the bar that had been set up across the room, and Eggsy looked down forlornly into the bottom of his empty mug. He met Harry’s eyes.

“I think I might be with you on that one.” Untucking himself from Harry’s side to place his empty mug on a tray headed for the kitchen, the two of them made their way over to the bar. They passed numerous relatives of Harry’s, all of them giving odd looks to the slightly mismatched pair. They had almost made it when they were waylaid by one of Harry’s younger cousins, a bright young man no older than Eggsy by more than a few years. He shook Harry’s hand and then turned his attention to Eggsy himself, looking him up and down.

“Why Harry,” he said, laughter colouring his voice and something bordering on naughtiness shining through in his eyes. This was the kind of man Eggys knew very well to stay away from. “I didn’t know you had it in you! Is this a mid-life crisis I see?” He chuckled and grasped Eggsy’s forearm while clasping his hand tightly. “Honestly, how much is paying you?” Had either Harry or Eggsy been drinking, they would have choked. As it was, Harry looked as though he might be sick as his cousin continued to ignore his existence. The man’s voice dropped low, the hand on Eggsy’s forearm slowly creeping up his bicep. “Does he ask you to call him Daddy when he -”

“Edmund, that is quite enough.” Harry’s voice wasn’t loud, not as it had been with his mother, but the anger that coloured it was enough to make his cousin drop Eggsy as though he had been burned. Harry’s eyes begged Eggsy to follow him as he turned on his heel, and Eggsy made to do so when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Terribly sorry about that, sometimes I get a little carried away. But you know, if things ever,” Edmund shot a glance at Harry’s retreating back. “Get a little dry, with my cousin, I wouldn’t be opposed to -” Eggsy cut him off, just as angry as Harry had been.

“No, Edmund. I’m not that sort of man. I would say that it was a pleasure to meet you, but it really wasn’t.” Edmund was so shocked that Eggsy had no trouble extracting himself and joining Harry at the bar, where he was talking to an older man who had his arm around the waist of a woman who looked no older than Eggsy himself.

“Ah, Gary darling, there you are,” Harry said, pushing a martini into his hand. “This is the lovely couple whose union we’re here to celebrate.” He pressed a kiss to Eggsy’s hair just above his ear. “I apologize for Edmund, that was out of line,” he muttered, and then turned his attention back to his cousin. “Allow me to introduce you, this is my cousin James, and his soon-to-be wife, I’m sorry my dear, I don’t think I quite got your name.” Eggsy suppressed a snort as he shook James’ hand; that was so typically Harry.

“Elizabeth,” she said, her voice soft despite the fact that her eyes betrayed how she would like to be anywhere but her present circumstances. “Elizabeth Williams.” Eggsy pressed a kiss to her knuckles, and caught the impressed looks of Harry and James out of the corner of his eye.

“Gary Unwin,” he said as he dropped her hand. “Pleasure to meet you both.” Eggsy took a sip of his martini and tucked himself against Harry’s side, the four of them moving out of the way to chat in what was by far the most polite and interesting conversation Eggsy had engaged in the whole of the morning. He thought that perhaps it was because of the similarity in their relationships, but not once did either James or Elizabeth send him a disapproving glance for attending this debacle with Harry, and for that he was grateful. Eventually the two of them left to make rounds and talk to other relatives, and with a shared look Eggys and Harry left the room for some breathing space.

The two of them wandered the halls of the mansion aimlessly, and by chance happened upon Harry’s parents engaged in conversation. Amelia Hart looked more than a little bit ashamed when she saw her son, though Harry’s father simply gave them a disapproving glare.

“I’m going to see if I can find my way back to our room, okay?” Eggsy said softly, squeezing Harry’s bicep before extracting himself. “Give the three of you some privacy, yeah?’ Harry nodded, though he was clearly distressed at the thought of facing his parents alone. He turned and watched Eggsy walk away, the other man carrying himself stiffly, before finally turning to face the one man he had hoped not to see.

“Henry.” His father had always refused to use the nickname he preferred, sticking to using only his given name. It was no secret that the two of them had never gotten along. “You’re looking well.”

“Thank you, sir.” Despite the fact that he had lived over half a century, Harry always felt like a small boy whenever he stood in front of his father.

“That man you were just with, what’s his name?” Harry steeled himself for what would be for all intents and purposes and interrogation.

“Gary.” He said firmly. “And I intend to marry him some day.” His parents looked shocked, and his mother paled to the point where Harry was actually afraid she might faint. His father turned slightly green around the edges.

“He’s half your age! You can’t possibly believe that he loves you enough to accept such a proposal? Don’t kid yourself, Henry.”

Harry, in the beginning of his relationship with Eggsy, had had doubts about the younger man’s intentions. He knew of all the possible issues that may arise as a result of their age gap, and how the youth of today were no longer as hung up on loyalty as people his own age appeared to be. Harry was aware of how one day he might have to let Eggsy go, that he might lose him to someone younger and more able to keep up with him. That was before he had seen the footage of Chester’s death, and the loyalty Eggsy had shown - the willingness to die - to the simple memory of a man he had spent no more than the span of a month and a half with. He knew now that were he to ask, Eggsy would do nothing but accept; would be ecstatic to tie himself to Harry for as long as either of them had, even despite the glaring issues they would have in the future.

“I’m sure you are quite aware, sir, that the age gap between myself and Gary is actually less than that between James and Elizabeth?” His father made to interrupt him, but Harry held up a hand. He was done being cowed by his father. “Gary, who has politely put up with the verbal abuse he has been subject to while in this house, and knew he would have to listen to, was more than willing to attend this farce with me. I regret not only coming today, but also dragging him into this mess. The last thing I wanted was to see him hurt by my family’s prejudice, yet that is exactly what has happened. I expect an apology, and I will expect it sincere. This, and believe me when I tell you is nothing short of truth, can be delivered at the front door on our way out of this house. We will not be staying for dinner, for as soon as I collect my boyfriend - yes, father, accept it - we will be leaving.” Harry’s voice, despite his best efforts, was thick with emotion at the end. Never in his life had he spoken to his parents this way, just as never in his life had he regretted the life he had been forced to undergo growing up.

“But Henry, he’s -”

“Don’t you dare say a word about him.” Harry spun on his heel and tried not to run from his parents.

He managed eventually to find Eggsy, who had successfully located their room and was seated on the bed, both of their suitcases sitting packed by the end of it. Harry closed the door behind him and locked it, then sagged against it and ran a hand down his face, the tears he had been holding back beginning to fall. Harry felt, rather than saw, Eggsy pull him away from the door and lead him to the bed, where he sat down and cried onto his shoulder while Eggsy ran a hand through his hair and traced patterns into his back with the other.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said, barely audible through the tears and the layers of fabric he had buried his face into. “We should never have come. It wasn’t fair to you.”

“No, Harry no, I wanted to come. I didn’t want you to be alone.” Getting himself under control, Harry dried the last of his tears.

“Thank you, darling. It means so much. I know how uncomfortable you are.” Eggsy stood up and went into the ensuite, returning shortly with a damp cloth. He wiped Harry’s face and made sure he was presentable; the cold helped to make it look like he hadn’t just been crying. Pressing a kiss to Harry’s forehead, Eggsy put the washcloth back on its rack and when he returned he sat down next to Harry again.

“What do you want to do? Are we leaving, or are we staying just to spite them?” Harry shook his head.

“I think you know.” Eggsy gave him a firm nod and picked up his bag. The two of them, leaving the door to the bedroom open behind them, made their way down the stairs and to the front door. Everyone they passed watched them go without bothering to hide their stareing, conversations dropping into silence as they went. Seeing them almost at the door, Harry’s parents stepped forward and his mother made to speak. Eggsy, seeing this, paused in the entryway under Harry’s arm where he was holding the door open.

“It was lovely to meet you, Gary. I do hope that life treats you well.” She sounded pained, but she was at her core sincere. Eggsy nodded curtly.

“Thank you. I believe I have everything I’ll ever need.” The people around them looked confused, and to mark his point Eggsy grabbed Harry by his tie and kissed him soundly before walking out of the house, Harry following with a dazed expression on his face. Eggsy’s stride lengthened the closer he got to the car, and not even bothering to open the trunk the two men threw their bags in the back seat before Harry started the car, revving the engine.

“You cheeky tart, had to have the last word, didn’t you?” Eggsy smirked, his eyes sparkling and making him look rather impish.

“Are you mad?” Harry shook his head fondly before pulling him in with a hand around the back of his head, kissing him like his life depended on it even as they parted with grins.

“Are you serious? Did you see my father’s face?” Rolling down the windows, Eggsy turned up the radio as Harry threw the car in reverse, before accelerating out of the gravel drive in a cloud of dust.


End file.
